Chandigarh, June 1 (IANS) Newly appointed Punjab Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President, Kewal Singh Dhillon, will formally assume charge of the party’s state unit on June 3 at a function here, party General Secretary Anil Sarin said on Monday.

The charge-taking ceremony is expected to witness the presence of a large number of senior party leaders and workers from across the state.

Prominent leaders, including former state presidents, national office-bearers, Union ministers, Members of Parliament, Members of the legislative Assembly, former ministers, former MPs and MLAs, members of the state core committee, besides district presidents and representatives from various organisational wings of the party, are expected to attend the event.

The occasion marks an important milestone for the Punjab BJP as the party embarks on a new phase of organizational strengthening and political outreach under the leadership of Kewal Singh Dhillon.

Party leaders and workers are looking forward to working collectively to further strengthen the BJP’s presence across Punjab and expand its connect with every section of society.

The ceremony will also provide an opportunity for party leaders and workers from different parts of the state to come together and reaffirm their commitment to the party’s ideology, organisational growth, and vision for Punjab’s development, an official statement said.

A large gathering of party workers is expected to participate in the programme and extend their support to the new state President as he assumes responsibility for leading the party in Punjab, it added.

Ahead of the Assembly elections in Punjab, the BJP on May 28 appointed a Jat Sikh face and former legislator Dhillon, 75, as the new state president, replacing Sunil Jakhar, the party’s prominent Hindu face in the state.

Political observers said the BJP’s decision to bet on Dhillon is part of a strategy to project a Sikh face in the Sikh-dominated Punjab with an eye on the 2027 Assembly elections.

Dhillon served as a Congress legislator from Barnala from 2007 to 2017 before being defeated by AAP’s Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, who is now the party’s Member of Parliament. Dhillon joined the BJP in June 2022 along with Congress leaders after the party’s defeat in the Assembly elections.

He contested the Sangrur Lok Sabha by-election in 2022 and the Barnala Assembly bypoll in 2024, both on a BJP ticket, but lost both.

–IANS

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